Chương 8
“One she discussed with me.”
Daniel felt the hotel balcony narrow.
“When?”
“Two weeks before she died.”
“What did it say?”
“She was concerned about your ability to manage alone if anything happened to her.”
For several seconds, Daniel heard only traffic.
Margaret continued, more softly, “She loved you. Concern is not betrayal.”
“You have this letter?”
“No.”
“You saw it?”
“She told me she had written it.”
“Did Anna know?”
“No.”
“Did Laura?”
“She knew I was searching for a document.”
“Did Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“And you let him search my house.”
“I permitted him to inspect my papers and the stored family files.”
“Where are those stored?”
“In the upstairs study.”
“That is my office.”
“It was your father’s study before it was yours.”
Daniel laughed once. There was no humor in it.
“Was Mercer in my office while I was on a call?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was Laura helping him?”
“She was helping me.”
“Those are not the same thing.”
“Sometimes they are.”
Daniel looked through the glass again. Emily had placed one cereal loop on the stuffed rabbit’s nose.
“What did Mercer leave behind?”
“A folder.”
“What was in it?”
“Notes.”
“About me?”
“Among other things.”
“Did Emily see them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Emily see Mercer upstairs?”
“She may have.”
“Did he speak to her?”
“He denies it.”
“You believe him.”
“I believe he would have no reason to hurt her.”
“People do things for reasons you don’t know.”
“That applies to everyone, Daniel.”
He heard the warning beneath the statement.
“Are you accusing Laura?”
“I am asking you not to decide before the facts are clear.”
“Laura disabled the cameras.”
“At my request.”
Daniel gripped the railing.
Margaret said, “I did not want Charles recorded while reviewing confidential documents.”
“You created the gap.”
“I created privacy.”
“You created the exact window someone used to lock Emily in a freezer.”
Her silence lasted long enough to become an answer of another kind.
When Daniel returned inside, Emily asked whether Grandma was coming.
“No.”
“Is she mad?”
“She’s worried.”
“Worried people can be mad.”
Anna looked up from her laptop. “That is true.”
Daniel set the phone facedown.
The police asked him to return to the house at ten. Anna stayed with Emily in the hotel while Daniel drove back through a neighborhood washed clean by the night’s rain. The route took twelve minutes. He remembered none of it afterward.
A crime-scene technician worked around the freezer. The frozen food had been transferred into insulated containers and placed in the garage. The lid remained open. Yellow evidence markers sat near the scratch marks, the floor, and the black handle.
The kitchen seemed brighter without people in it. The bowl of oranges was still on the island. One fruit had rolled to the floor during the rescue and rested beneath a cabinet, unnoticed.
Officer Alvarez stood near the sink.
“Your mother and Ms. Bennett left for a hotel last night,” she said. “Mr. Mercer returned home after providing a statement.”
“You let him leave.”
“We did not have legal grounds to hold him.”
“Did you search the SUV?”
“With his consent.”
“And?”
“No evidence connecting the vehicle to the freezer.”
“What would that evidence look like?”
“That’s a fair question.”
Daniel looked at the open chest. “How long was Emily inside?”
“We’re narrowing it. A smart plug connected to the freezer recorded a power fluctuation at five twenty-three.”
“What kind of fluctuation?”
“Compressor activity changed for eleven seconds. Opening the lid can trigger it.”
“So the lid opened at five twenty-three.”
“It may have.”
“And closed?”
“The device doesn’t tell us.”
“My 911 call was five thirty-seven.”
“Correct.”
Fourteen minutes.
Daniel imagined each one and stopped after two.
Alvarez continued, “The temporary access code assigned to Mercer was used at four forty-eight through the rear entrance. It was not used again.”
“He could have stayed inside.”
“He says he left at five sixteen. Exterior camera footage from across the street shows his vehicle leaving near that time.”
“Near?”
“The neighbor’s timestamp is off by three minutes.”
“What about Margaret’s code?”
“Used at three twelve when she returned from an appointment. Laura’s code was used at nine twenty that morning.”
“So no one entered after Mercer left.”
“Not through a monitored door.”
“You think the person was already inside.”
“I think several people were already inside.”
Daniel stared at the pale wood floor. “Including me.”
Alvarez did not soften it. “Including you.”
He looked at her.
“Are you asking whether I did this?”
“I’m telling you we are examining access, opportunity, timeline, and statements for everyone.”
“My daughter called for me.”
“I know.”
“I found her.”
“I know.”
“What possible reason would I have?”
“I’m not suggesting one.”
“Then don’t put me in the same sentence.”
“Mr. Hayes, a six-year-old was confined in a freezer inside a house occupied by four adults and recently accessed by a fifth. I don’t get to remove someone from consideration because the idea is upsetting.”
Daniel turned toward the island. His pale blue shirt cuff showed beneath the sweater, wrinkled from sleeping in it.
“Emily said the person wore something shiny on their hand,” he said.
Alvarez glanced at his wedding ring.
“Yes.”
He closed his fingers.
“She also said they smelled like my mother’s room.”
“Children often connect sensory details accurately. They can also connect them after the fact. That’s why Denise will conduct the formal interview.”
“What did Laura say?”
“That she was in the upstairs laundry room from approximately five ten to five twenty-five, then in your mother’s suite.”
“She told me she was helping my mother.”
“She says she was folding your mother’s clothes.”
“Alone.”
“For part of that time.”
“And my mother?”
“On the phone in her sitting room.”
“With whom?”
“Her attorney.”
“Verified?”
“We are working on it.”
“Mercer?”
“Driving.”
“Verified?”
“We are working on it.”
May you like
The phrase felt designed to prevent human beings from breaking furniture.
Daniel walked toward the freezer. The four dark marks were shorter than he remembered. That made them worse. Emily’s hand had been small, her reach limited.
